The invention pertains to a strip-casting machine for the production of a metal strip with two adjacent casting rolls with lateral surfaces of a certain width which form a casting gap between them, the end surfaces of the rolls being provided with side seals, the rolls being rotatably supported on a machine stand and driven by at least one motor, where the metal melt is supplied through at least one casting tube or the like to the area between the casting rolls and the side seals, and is protected by at least one gaseous medium.
In a strip-casting machine of the generic type in question according to the publication WO-A-97/34,718, the horizontally mounted casting rolls are supported in a machine frame, which carries the rolls; a distribution vessel rests on the frame. To seal off the surface of the metal bath, a plate is provided over the bath, approximately parallel to its surface, which seals off the two casting rolls. Underneath the casting rolls are separate wall parts, which adjoin the machine frame, and a multipart box, which is adjacent to the wall parts. The strip emerges from this box. The disadvantage of this strip-casting machine is the relatively complicated design used to seal off the metal bath and/or the metal strip produced.
In another known twin-roll strip-casting machine according to the publication EP-A-0 780 177, a box-like container is provided to seal off the solidified metal strip emerging underneath from the gap between the casting rolls. The walls of this container extend all the way to the bottom parts of the outer jackets of the casting rolls, where a seal is created by a sealing element. This type of seal, however, is relatively complicated in design and expensive to maintain and also entails undesirable contact between the sealing element and the rotating casting roll. When leaks occur, there is the danger that scale can form on the metal strip, which lowers the quality of the product.